Fastener with rotatable lock pin



March 12, 1968 I v 'MATHISON 3,372,444

' FASTENER WITH ROTATABLE LOCK PIN Filed Sept. 19, 1966 2 Y -h' :r- Huh. 3 27 I 27 INVENTOR ROBERT L MATH/SON WW i United States Patent 3,372,444 FASTENER WITH ROTATABLE LOCK PIN Robert V. Mathison, Woodcrest Road, Asheville, N.C. Zfififi-i Filed Sept. 19, 19%, Ser. No. 580,294 5 Claims. (Ci. 24-204 This invention in general relates to fastener structures adapted to be removably fastened on a material which is penetrable by relatively sharp projections, and more particularly relates to improvements in fastener structures of the type disclosed in my US. Patent No. 3,214,816, issued Nov. 2, 1965.

The fasteners of the above patent comprise fastener structures adapted to be removably fastened on a material with penetrable surface openings. These fasteners constitute a base with small, closely spaced, tapered projections emanating from a face thereof. The projections are preferably arranged in transverse, parallel rows and are tapered to relatively pointed outer ends. The longitudinal axes of the projections and the shortest sides thereof slope, relative to said face, in the same general direction and form a unit of sloping, closely spaced, penetrating members, adapted to penetrate a plurality of closely spaced surface openings of a projection-penetrable material. These sloping projections become firmly seated in material such as textile fabric when a pulling force in a direction essentially parallel with the face and opposite to the general direction of slope of the longitudinal axes and shortest sides of said projections on the portion of material penetrated by the projections causes this portion of material to be firmly and deeply seated on the projections and thereby firmly gripped on the fastener structure under this pulling force. The gripped portion of this material is quickly released from the projections upon the release of the pulling force.

The improvements of this invention relate to locking devices whereby a'penetrable member such as textile fabric remains in gripping engagement with the projections even on release of the aforesaid pulling force or the absence'thereof. This is achieved by providing a fastening device comprising a base member with at least one relatively sharp projection emanating from the face of the base member and sloping in a given direction therefrom. A lock pin is provided on the base member. The

lock pin has a shank extending transversely through the base member and is rotatably journalled therein. The lock pin has a relatively sharp tip portion on one end portion of the shank. This tip portion is on the same side of the face as is said projection or projections. It is contiguous to the face and slopes relative to the face at an acute angle in the order of l060.

The lock pin is rotatable to a position wherein the tip portion slopes relative to the face of the base member in the same general direction as the direction of slope of said projection or projections for penetration into a projection-penetrable member such as textile fabric, e.g., under the same pulling force which seats the projection or projections in the textile fabric or the like, and thence to a position wherein the tip portion slopes in a direction substantially opposite to the general direction of slope of the projection or projections. In the latter position, the lock pin secures the gripping penetration of the projection or projections by preventing the textile material or the like to move relative to the projections to a position wherein the grip of the projections are released, i.e., relative movement in a general direction opposite to the slope of the projections.

The invention is operative with only one projection of sufiicient size to penetrate and grip the projection-penetrablc member and one rotating lock pin. However, it is preferred to have at least two projections, and preferably a plurality of projections, to assure good gripping of material such as textile fabrics and also to provide sufficient distribution of the forces of the projections on various parts of the penetrated fabric to guard against tearing of the latter. In fasteners of the type illustrated in my aforesaid patent, the rotatable lock pin can be conveniently located in the midst of the group of projections.

While it may not be absolutely necessary in some instances or uses of fasteners of this invention to lock the rotatable lock pin in its position wherein it secures the projection-penetrated material on the projections, it is preferred that a releasable locking or holding device he provided to hold the rotated lock pin in the latter position. This holding or locking device prevents accidental rotation of the lock pin to a position wherein it no longer secures the projection-penetrated material on the projections.

A preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated in the drawing, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a top perspective view of the preferred embodiment;

FIG. 2 is a section in fragment taken on section plane 2--2 of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 3 .is an end elevation in fragment of the preferred embodiment.

Referring to the drawing the fastener 10 comprises a base 11 which, as illustrated, is a flat plate. The base 11, however, may be arched or curved transversely and/or longitudinally for some uses or applications of the fasteners of the invention.

A plurality of sloping projections 12 emanate from a face of the base 11. The base 11 and projections 12 may be made of any suitable material such as synthetic resins or polymers, metal, etc. In the illustrated embodiment the base 11 and projections 12 constitute an integrally molded synthetic polymer. In alternative forms, the base 11 may be metal or synthetic polymer with metal projections seated therein or both the base and the projections may be made from a single piece of metal with the projections struck out from the base 11 by a stamping or other operation.

In any case, the projections 12 are characterized by relatively sharp tips 13 adapted to readily penetrate a material such as textile fabric. Their longitudinal axes and shortest sides 14 slope relative to the face 15 from which they emanate at an acute angle in the order 20-80 whereby the penetrated material tends to work down the shortest sides 14 of the projections 12 under a pulling or tension force on the material in a direction opposite to the general direction of slope of the projections 12 and essentially parallel with face 15.

Under these conditions, the projection-penetrated material such as textile fabric tends to remain tightly gripped by the projections 12. When the aforesaid pulling or tension forces are released or are absent, however, the penetrated material is readily released from the grip of projections 12.

In order to maintain the seating of the projection 12 in a textile fabric 16 substantially as illustrated in FIG. 2, there is provided a lock pin 17 having a shank 18 extending transversely through a hole 19' in the base 11. A shank 18 is rotatably journalled in the hole and has a flange or ring 20 which bears rotatably against the face 15.

The end of the shank 18 which is contiguous to the face 15 and projections 12 has a sloping, pointed, tip portion 21. The latter slopes relative to the face 15 substantially at the same angle of slope as the slope of the longitudinal axes of the projections 12. It is contemplated, however, that the angle of slope of the tip portion 21 relative to the face 15 may be slightly greater than or considerably less than the angle of slope of the longitudinal axes of the projections 12 relative to said face. The textile fabric 16 is penetrated by the lock pin 17 and the projections 12 with the lock pin positioned as shown in full lines in FIG. 2 by relative motion of the textile fabric 16 and the fastener 10 in the direction of the arrows shown in FIG. 2. After the fabric 16 is securely seated on the projections 12, the lock pin 17 is rotated 180 to the position shown in dotted lines in FIG. 2. The juncture 22 of the end of the shank 18 and the sloping tip portion 21 is preferably slightly above or substantially at the upper surface 23 of the fabric 16 whereby the sloping tip portion at this juncture effectively holds the fabric 16 down against the projections 12. In tightly woven, tightly knitted, and like textile fabrics, the shank portion 18 will also assist in holding the fastener on the textile fabric by resisting relative motion of the penetrated textile fabric 16 and the fastener 10 in directions opposite to the arrows of FIG. 2. If the latter relative motion is permitted, the textile fabric 16 may be released readily from the projections 12. In some cases, e.g., with loosely woven or knitted textiles, the juncture 22 may be located advantageously substantially at the face 15.

As stated aforesaid, the invention is operative with only one projection corresponding to the projections 12 in certain cases where a textile fabric or other penetrable material can be gripped and held without tearing by a single projection. In the case of multiple projections, as illustrated, the lock pin 17 is preferably positioned in the midst of the projections whereby its locking function is more uniformly distributed among the gripping actions of the various projections. More than one lock pin may be used, if desired, on a given fastener member.

The shank 18 and the sloping tip portion 21 constitute the essential parts of the lock pin. These parts together with means for holding the shank 18 in rotatable journal in the hole 19 constitute the simplest form of the invention. It is preferred, however, to provide on the opposite end of the shank 18 a lever arm 24, formed by bending the end portion of the shank at a right angle to the shank, for turning the lock pin 17 between locking and unlocking positions. It is also preferred to provide on the surface 25 of the base 11 a lock member for releasably locking the lock pin 17 in its locking position as shown in dotted lines in FIG. 2. The locking device which is illustrated constitutes a hump or ridge 26 on the surface 25 and having tapered sides 27. The hump or ridge 26 has a centrally disposed, longitudinal groove 27 adapted to releasably receive and hold the lever arm 24 when the latter is rotated to a position shown in dotted lines in FIG. 2. Arm 24 has sufficiently resiliency to bend as it rides across the hump or ridge 26.

It is thought that the invention and its numerous attendant advantages will be fully understood from the foregoing description, and it is obvious that numerous changes may be made in the form, construction and arrangement of the several parts without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention, or sacrificing any of its attendant advantages, the forms herein disclosed being preferred embodiments for the purpose of illustrating the invention.

The invention is hereby claimed as follows:

1. A fastening device comprising a base member, at least one relatively sharp projection emanating from a face of said base member and sloping in a given direction therefrom, a lock pin having a shank extending transversely through said base member and being rotatably journalled therein, and a relatively sharp tip portion on one end portion of said shank, said tip portion being on the same side of said face as said projection, being contiguous to said face and sloping relative to said face at an acute angle, said lock pin being rotatable to a position wherein said tip portion slopes relative to said face in the same direction as the direction of slope of said projection and to a position wherein said tip portion slopes in a direction substantially opposite to the direction of slope of said projection.

2. A fastening device as claimed in claim 1, wherein a plurality of said projections emanate from said face of said base member in the form of a group of closely spaced, small, tapered, sloping projections, said projections of said group sloping relative to said face in the same general direction and forming a unit of sloping, closely spaced, penetrating members adapted to penetrate and grip a material with penetrable interstices, and the shortest sides of said projections being disposed at an acute angle in the order of 20-80 relative to said face.

3. A fastening device as claimed in claim 2, wherein said hole and said lock pin rotatably journalled therein is located in said base member in the midst of said group of projections,

4. A fastening device as claimed in claim 1, and means on said base member coacting with said lock pin for releasably holding said lock pin in the last mentioned position.

5. A fastening device as claimed in claim 4, wherein the opposite end of said shank has a lever arm extending laterally therefrom, and means on the said base member coacting with said lever arm for releasably holding said lock pin in the last mentioned position.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 815,353 3/1906 King 24150.2 968,712 8/1910 Stewart 2487 2,308,336 1/1943 Mason 24-204 2,834,082 5/1958 Moser 24-87 BERNARD A. GELAK, Primary Examiner. 

1. A FASTENING DEVICE COMPRISING A BASE MEMBER, AT LEAST ONE RELATIVELY SHARP PROJECTIN EMANATING FROM A FACE OF SAID BASE MEMBER AND SLOPING IN A GIVEN DIRECTION THEREFROM, A LOCK PIN HAVING A SHANK EXTENDING TRANSVERSELY THROUGH SAID BASE MEMBER AND BEING ROTATABLY JOURNALLED THEREIN, AND A RELATIVELY SHARP TIP PORTION ON ONE END PORTION OF SAID SHANK, SAID TIP PORTION BEING ON THE SAME SIDE OF SAID FACE AS SAID PROJECTION, BEING CONTIGUOUS TO SAID FACE AND SLOPING RELATIVE TO SAID FACE AT AN ACUTE ANGLE, SAID LOCK PIN BEING ROTATABLE TO A POSITION WHEREIN SAID TIP PORTION SLOPES RELATIVE TO SAID FACE IN THE SAME DIRECTION AS THE DIRECTION OF SLOPE OF SAID PROJECTION AND TO A POSITION WHEREIN SAID TIP PORTION SLOPES IN A DIRECTION SUBSTANTIALLY OPPOSITE TO THE DIRECTION OF SLOPE OF SAID PROJECTION. 